What is your name and your occupation? My name is Oliver Brown and I am a reverend in Topeka, Kansas.
Can you tell us a little bit about the build up to the case? I, along with twelve other parents went straight to the NAACP because my daughter was not admitted into an all-white school.
We have heard that there were many other similar cases, why is this one under your name? Well, I was the only man in the group of parents, so they decided to call it Brown vs. The Board of Education.
What happened in this case that captured national attention? This case was for civil rights, which was a very interesting and topic at the time because many African-Americans thought that this treatment was very biased. White people thought that this was the way it should be.
What are some of the facts of the case? The case originated in Topeka, Kansas around an all-white school and an all-black school, and the treatment of African-Americans. My daughter was denied entrance into the white school, which we did not take very well. We sued Sumner Elementary, and the case eventually made its way up to the Supreme Court.
What was the NAACP?
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP, was started in January of 1909. The association had hundreds of white and African-American clients in varying cases.
What was your motivation for crossing over racial barriers? We felt that both whites and blacks should be treated equally, and we wanted our daughter to have a good education. The racial barriers needed to be challenged, and that is what we did. Sam: Thurgood Marshall Cate: Interviewer Cate: We are here with Mr. Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer in the Brown vs. the board of education cases. So Mr. Marshall, What are some of your arguments for these cases? Sam: Well, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court had misinterpreted the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Equal protection of the laws did not allow for racial segregation. Also, the Fourteenth Amendment allowed the government to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools. The Fourteenth Amendment did not specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education. Finally, psychological testing demonstrated the harmful effects of segregation on the minds of African American children. Cate: How did the defense counter these points? Sam: They countered these points by saying that segregation didn’t harm African Americans, the constitution didn’t say that all African Americans had to go to the same school, racial segregation was a regional custom and whites were making an effort to equalize the educational system. Cate: What compelled you to take this case? Sam: I wanted to take this case because I felt that what was happening was unfair and that everyone deserves the equal education they need. I felt it was necessary to make a change for the greater good.
My name is Oliver Brown and I am a reverend in Topeka, Kansas.
Can you tell us a little bit about the build up to the case?
I, along with twelve other parents went straight to the NAACP because my daughter was not admitted into an all-white school.
We have heard that there were many other similar cases, why is this one under your name?
Well, I was the only man in the group of parents, so they decided to call it Brown vs. The Board of Education.
What happened in this case that captured national attention?
This case was for civil rights, which was a very interesting and topic at the time because many African-Americans thought that this treatment was very biased. White people thought that this was the way it should be.
What are some of the facts of the case?
The case originated in Topeka, Kansas around an all-white school and an all-black school, and the treatment of African-Americans. My daughter was denied entrance into the white school, which we did not take very well. We sued Sumner Elementary, and the case eventually made its way up to the Supreme Court.
What was the NAACP?
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP, was started in January of 1909. The association had hundreds of white and African-American clients in varying cases.
What was your motivation for crossing over racial barriers?
We felt that both whites and blacks should be treated equally, and we wanted our daughter to have a good education. The racial barriers needed to be challenged, and that is what we did.
Sam: Thurgood Marshall
Cate: Interviewer
Cate: We are here with Mr. Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer in the Brown vs. the board of education cases. So Mr. Marshall, What are some of your arguments for these cases?
Sam: Well, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court had misinterpreted the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Equal protection of the laws did not allow for racial segregation. Also, the Fourteenth Amendment allowed the government to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools.
The Fourteenth Amendment did not specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education. Finally, psychological testing demonstrated the harmful effects of segregation on the minds of African American children.
Cate: How did the defense counter these points?
Sam: They countered these points by saying that segregation didn’t harm African Americans, the constitution didn’t say that all African Americans had to go to the same school, racial segregation was a regional custom and whites were making an effort to equalize the educational system.
Cate: What compelled you to take this case?
Sam: I wanted to take this case because I felt that what was happening was unfair and that everyone deserves the equal education they need. I felt it was necessary to make a change for the greater good.